Having seen my first Dead show in 1973, and just recently seeing Dead & Company in Boulder on Friday 13, 2018, I HAD to watch this Grateful Dead skit again (and again and again)...one of my all time favorites!!!

When Renee is changing clothes and in her negligee, Mike says "So round, so firm, so fully packed." Kind of a throw away line and not all that funny. But it's actually a line from a John Hartford song called "The Golden Globe Award". Listen to that song and the line instantly becomes a classic...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gw3Dc-EXmo

Does anyone know what is happening at the beginning at the movie? Someone is sneaking up on some people kissing in a car somewhere. Why? Even after watching it several times, I can't figure out why on earth this is relevant at all, and it's driving me crazy! Did anyone catch something I missed?

It bears mentioning that (Crow's cute little Stratocaster notwithstanding): that was a paint-peelingly boring SYNTH solo. I didn't hear ~any~ actual guitar notes. A few of BestBrains know 'cowboy chords' on guitar, but none of them play single-note lines; keyboard is a little more accessible for that to 'hobbyist' musicians.

"In brief, a metaphysician is either a philosopher whose area of expertise is the study of the fundamental nature of reality and existence and/or, more esoterically, a practicing healer/adviser that changes physical reality by working with the principles and powers and ‘things’ that underlie it, and especially the mind or psyche."
Quote from an actual modern person who answers to the title of "metaphysician".
Speaking from someone currently taking a philosophy class, I'd say for the philosopher its basically the mind-body argument. Which exists, do both exist, what's more important, etc. Every philosopher will have a metaphysical position, i.e. where they fall on the mind-body argument, and SOME OF THEM DEFINITELY BELIEVE YOU ARE DEAD WHEN YOU DIE. They would be the materialists, those who fall on the body side of the argument.
So: there exist Metaphysicians who would HUGELY debate the "Metaphysician" in this film.
(Philosophy is awesome, everyone should take at least one class in it!)

Favorite thing #1- When the cops lead the photographer away from his photo shoot for questioning- his model, who never says a word, continues to pose there as if she's just going to wait for him to return. She may still be there for all we know!

I was surprised to discover that Aldo Farnese ("Henry Krasker") died at the age of 57 in 1994-- a year after the movie was released! He was only twenty years old when it was filmed, in 1957. (He could've passed for middle-aged, IMHO.) Weird, huh?

Favorite thing #2- When the photographer first starts to run (in the thrilling chase scene) the cop who doesn't run grabs the arm of the other cop- apparently for no other reason than to slow him down and give the photog a head start. Nice blocking!

Boris Karloff played a scientist trying to use technology to communicate with his dead wife.It is a much better film exploring the concept of talking with the dead. Of course, today's offering was low budget, but they could have put more effort into the script.

Coulda swore the scruffy private eye at the beginning said "Have you been hearing odd stories about Chuck Barry? Telepathy? The Fourth dimension?" ♫All of these things are unlike the others♫none of these things can be called the same♫

Watching the detective light a cigarette while interviewing witnesses at the boarding house got me to thinking: most old movies show people smoking frequently, and in every kind of scene. But why? Did the actors do so as part of their character development, or were people so addicted to nicotine that they literally couldn't wait to smoke?

Contrary to first impressions, this movie does actually have something of a plot. It's chopped to pieces, and those pieces are shuffled out of order, and then spaced out with enough padding that they kind of get lost, but it is all there. I'll see if I can explain. Note that this will, of course, include spoilers. I suggest watching the movie first.

The kid is an irresponsible skinflint. Twice in his life, he's gotten married only to have his wife file for divorce within a matter of weeks. Both times, the women said he was impossible to get along with and maddeningly tight-fisted.

His uncle dies. The will says he's due for a significant inheritance, but that the money is to be kept in trust. If the kid stays out of trouble until a certain date, he'll get the money. But if he slips up, no dice.

The kid moves in to the boarding house, meets the model, and has a fling with her. They go off on a drunken trip to Vegas or somewhere and get married. As usual, it doesn't last.

But she knows that if word gets to his parents, he'll lose his inheritance. She uses that as leverage, demanding he give her money or else she'll tell. She asks for $5, then $10, then more.

He snaps. He gets out the old crossbow he had from hunting with his dad in years gone by, makes an improvised bolt out of a curtain rod, and shoots her.

(The photographer drops by, sees the body, and runs, breaking off the heel of his shoe in the process. This becomes a red herring.)

The police question the kid. He admits that he gave her money, but insists that they got along really well and it wasn't a big deal. They counter by telling him they've read the divorce papers showing his ex-wives describing him as miserly and impossible to get along with. It's a direct contradiction, but it's far from proof.

The "psychic" detective sets up a pseudo-scientific seance. The first demonstration gets the photographer to confess that he'd seen the body and run. The second goes on longer. The girl dressed as the victim sits up in her coffin. It's supposed to make the kid nervous, convinced that he's about to be outed as the murderer and perhaps even subjected to some kind of supernatural revenge.

He doesn't buy it. Instead, he jumps up, declaring "Ah-ha! I knew I couldn't have actually killed you!" (It's not clear exactly what he was thinking or feeling. Likely, he snapped when he killed her, felt guilt over the crime, and tried to convince himself that it hadn't really happened and somehow it would turn out okay.)

Everyone looks at him, and he realizes it's over. He confesses to the whole thing. The seance is revealed to have been a scam from the start. Just a psychological trick to sweat out the confession. The kid is arrested, and everyone else goes on with their lives.

Are we supposed to know what's going on with the people in the cars at the beginning of the movie? I just don't get what's going on. Does it actually tie in to the rest of the movie at any point or is it like the random murder at the beginning of The Beast of Yucca Flats?

This is one of those terrible stories that only knows how to do an impression of a murder mystery; they had seen enough mysteries to know that they consist of a lengthy investigation followed by an unveiling at the end, but it hadn't occurred to them that the two should be related.

And what was the thought process that went into the gambit at the end? "I bet we can trick the murderer into admitting guilt by making him think he's only admitting to *attempted* murder!"

1) Crow's rocking out with the guitar in the Garcia getup...probably my favorite bit of all time.
2) this was easily one of the worst movies ever. Horrible script/characters/directing/acting on an epic level...this flick is just one huge @#$%ing train wreck.

Every so often there's a scene where I wish I could have been there to see how they filmed it. In this case, I would love to have seen the fire drill. You had three people down in the trenches, Mike up top, and the whole crew walking across the set...and then, what? Did they stop filming and move everyone over to walk across the set again? Or did they keep the camera rolling and quietly run Gypsy around while Mike walked around back so they could walk across again? Or is the trench enough space to move Gypsy over behind the counter? I just think it would have been interesting to see.

I think I have had the laugh button for the episode work like twice out of the almost dozen times I have tried. A bunch of times it actually reduced the number of laughs. This time the number just stayed the same....anyone else see this?

Man im dyin for a Nelson. And i dont even smoke. Cigarettes. I am suffering from a serious head injury so thats what happened with that '' joke''. Im as much a victim as you are . Think about it wont you.

Did anyone notice Nelson, Tom and Crow singing "Atmospheres" (the weird voice chorale in 2001: A Spade Odyssey when the monolith appeared to the apemen)... while they showed the first silhouette of the The Selling Wizard?
"Brilliant...and sophisticated!!!" ~ says I.B. Snooty of the London Philharmonic.
MST3K deserves the Nobel Prize for ...umm... Crackupitude!

I'm surprised (as both a HeadDead and a MYSTie) that TV's wisecracking Crow lost the beard and hair each time they went back in the theater; all 3 of them usually have any skit's wig on when they go back to a movie (remember Mike's beehive? Crow and Tom's hockey hair?)....."The Skinny Bot Rocks!"

I've always wondered this: Why did Dr. Forrester say to Mike "Your first short film"? This certainly wasn't his first short, that was "Is This Love?" and it wasn't even the first short of the season, that being in the previous episode "A Date with Your Family". It's such an odd way to introduce the short. Anyone else agree?

TV's FRANK: I did it! I did it! I did it! AHAHAHAHA DR. FORRESTER: Did what Frank? TV's FRANK: Everything! I shot J.R.! I killed that fat barkeep! I ate all the Frusen Gladje, and y'know what -- I'm glad I did it! Glad I tell Ya! Glad! AHAHAHAHAHAHA...Mommy...Mommy I'm your best boy aren't I?

"I'm a private investigator. Criminology is my hobby." I sell part of my record collection to make ends meet. I also manage a bowling alley... Look, I'm kind of between projects at the moment. I'm not quite... Help me.

The answer has been held since noon today in a hermetically-sealed jar on Funk and Wagnell's porch.
Noon today.
Funk and Wagnell. (Yes.)
Hermetically-sealed. (Right.)
A mayonnaise jar. (Yes, thank you.)